Methods, Devices, And Computer Program Products For Customer Operated Coupon Tracking

ABSTRACT

A method of providing coupons for shopping includes storing a shopping list in an electronic device including items for purchase via a merchant, storing electronic representations of coupons in the electronic device and associating the electronic representations of coupons with items included in the shopping list.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The instant application is a continuation of, and claims priority to,U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/425,532 filed Jun. 21, 2006. U.S.patent application Ser. No. 11/425,532 is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to the field of electroniccommunications.

BACKGROUND

It is known to provide coupons to encourage customers to shop atparticular merchants and/or purchase particular products. For example,it is known that a manufacturer may place a coupon in a newspaper whichis distributed to potential customers. The customer “cuts out” thecoupon, sorts it and stores it with other coupons. Once in the store,the customer searches for the coupon in a stack of coupons of varyingsize and then searches for the product covered by the coupon. At thecheckout stand the clerk examines the coupon's expiration date, verifiesthat the correct product was purchased, and subtracts the coupon's valuefrom the purchase price. The clerk at some point in time performs apreliminary sort of the coupons by manufacturer and tallies them, Thecoupons are next sent to a clearing house that sorts and tallies all ofthe coupons for a store and sends them to the manufacturer forredemption. The manufacturer once again sorts and tallies the couponsbefore performing reimbursement.

The distribution and processing of coupons is also discussed in, forexample, U.S. Pat. No. 5,192,854 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,739,514.

SUMMARY

Embodiments according to the invention can provide methods, devices, andcomputer program products for customer operated coupon tracking.Pursuant to these embodiments, a method of providing coupons forshopping includes storing a shopping list in an electronic deviceincluding items for purchase via a merchant, storing electronicrepresentations of coupons in the electronic device and associating theelectronic representations of coupons with items included in theshopping list.

In some embodiments according to the invention, associating theelectronic representations of coupons with items further includesdetermining categories for the items included in the shopping list,determining if any of the electronic representations of coupons areassociated with any of the categories, and associating ones of theelectronic representations of coupons determined to be associated with acategory. In some embodiments according to the invention, the methodfurther includes wirelessly detecting presence of the electronic deviceat a location of the merchant and wirelessly accessing the shopping listand/or the electronic representations of coupons in the electronicdevice.

In some embodiments according to the invention, the method furtherincludes wirelessly transmitting information about a selected item tothe electronic device, wherein the selected item is selected based on anitem included in the shopping list, an electronic representation of acoupon, information from a product provider to the merchant, and/or apromotion by the merchant.

In some embodiments according to the invention, wirelessly transmittingincludes wirelessly transmitting the information to the electronicdevice for display thereon prior to products being scanned into theelectronic device at the merchant location. In some embodimentsaccording to the invention, the method further includes maintainingdisplay of the selected item on the electronic device as the electronicdevice moves within the location and highlighting display of theselected item in response to detected proximity of the electronic deviceto a position within the merchant location that is associated with theselected item.

In some embodiments according to the invention, the method furtherincludes receiving a code identifying a scanned product at theelectronic device, determining whether any of the electronicrepresentations of coupons are applicable to the code identifying thescanned product, associating the code identifying the scanned productresponsive to determining that at least one electronic representation ofthe coupons is applicable to the code identifying the scanned product,and requesting confirmation of the scanned product responsive todetermining that none of the electronic representations of the couponsis applicable to the code identifying the scanned product and that atleast one electronic representation of the coupons stored in theelectronic device is applicable to another product in the same categoryas the scanned product.

In some embodiments according to the invention, requesting confirmationof the scanned product includes displaying a message that no coupon isapplicable to the scanned product and/or displaying an alternativeproduct for which a coupon is applicable and requesting input to acceptthe scanned product or reject the scanned product. In some embodimentsaccording to the invention, the method further includes transferring atleast one code identifying the scanned product to a merchant system,verifying authenticity of the at least one electronic representation ofthe coupons applicable to the code identifying the scanned product,adjusting a total price to be paid to the merchant based on the at leastone code identifying the scanned product, and invalidating the at leastone electronic representation of the coupons applicable to the codeidentifying the scanned product stored in the electronic device.

In some embodiments according to the invention, a method of providingcoupons for shopping includes wirelessly detecting presence of anelectronic device, at a location of a merchant, the electronic devicehaving a shopping list and an electronic representation of a couponassociated with an item on the shopping list stored therein andwirelessly accessing the shopping list and/or the electronicrepresentations of coupons in the electronic device.

In some embodiments according to the invention, an electronic deviceconfigured to track coupons for shopping includes a wireless interfacecircuit configured to wirelessly transmit/receive data, a memory circuitconfigured to store a shopping list including items for purchase via amerchant and to store electronic representations of coupons, a check-outinterface circuit configured to transfer electronic representations ofcoupons associated with scanned products stored in the memory circuitfrom the electronic device, a processor circuit, coupled to the memorycircuit, to the wireless interface circuit, and to the check-outinterface circuit, the processor circuit configured to provide theelectronic representations stored in the memory circuit, and configuredto associate the electronic representations of coupons with itemsincluded in the shopping list, and configured to communicate with amerchant system via the wireless interface circuit; and configured totransmit electronic the representations of coupons associated withscanned products stored in the memory circuit via the check-outinterface circuit.

Other systems, methods, and/or computer program products according toembodiments of the invention will be or become apparent to one withskill in the art upon review of the following drawings and detaileddescription. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods,and/or computer program products be included within this description, bewithin the scope of the present invention, and be protected by theaccompanying claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a flow diagram that illustrates the distribution andprocessing of coupons in some embodiments according to the invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart that illustrates the distribution and processingof coupons in conjunction with the flow diagram shown in FIG. 1 in someembodiments according to the invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of a merchant location having amerchant system that communicates with electronic devices while at themerchant location according to some embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating electronic devices in someembodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

The present invention now is described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying figures, in which embodiments of theinvention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in manyalternate forms and should not be construed as limited to theembodiments set forth herein. Like numbers refer to like elementsthroughout the description of the figures.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Asused herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof As used herein the term “and/or”includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associatedlisted items.

It will be understood that, when an element is referred to as being“coupled” to another element, it can be directly coupled to the otherelement or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when anelement is referred to as being “directly coupled” to another element,there are no intervening elements present.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientificterms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by oneof ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will befurther understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly useddictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that isconsistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art andwill not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense expresslyso defined herein.

The present invention is described below with reference to diagrams(such as schematic illustrations) and/or operational illustrations ofmethods, devices, and computer program products according to embodimentsof the invention. It is to be understood that the functions/acts notedin the figures may occur out of the order noted in the operationalillustrations. For example, two elements shown in succession may in factbe executed substantially concurrently or the elements may sometimes beexecuted in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/actsinvolved.

The present invention may be embodied in hardware and/or in software(including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.). Furthermore,the present invention may take the form of a computer program product ona computer-usable or computer-readable storage medium havingcomputer-usable or computer-readable program code embodied in the mediumfor use by or in connection with an instruction execution system.

The computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be, for example butnot limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic,infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device, or propagationmedium. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of thecomputer-readable medium would include the following: an electricalconnection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, arandom access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber,and a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM).

Computer program code or “code” for carrying out operations according tothe present invention may be written in an object oriented programminglanguage such as JAVA®, Smalltalk or C++, JavaScript, Visual Basic,TSQL, Pert, or in various other programming languages. Softwareembodiments of the present invention do not depend on implementationwith a particular programming language. Portions of the code may executeentirely on one or more systems utilized by an intermediary server.

The computer program code may be provided to a processor of a generalpurpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable dataprocessing apparatus as instructions to produce a machine, such that theinstructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus, create means for implementingthe functions specified in the illustrations.

The computer code may be stored in a computer-readable memory that candirect a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus tofunction in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored inthe computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture includinginstruction means which implement the function specified in theillustrations.

As described herein below in greater detail, in some embodimentsaccording to the invention, a shopping list including items for purchaseat a merchant location can be stored in an electronic device along withelectronic representations of coupons that are scanned by the electronicdevice. The electronic device can associate the electronicrepresentations of the coupons with items included in the shopping list.For example, the shopping list may specify a particular brand of productto be purchased at the merchant location, which can be associated withan electronic representation of a coupon for the purchase of thatproduct.

In still further embodiments according to the invention, an item on theshopping list may be named only generically so that a particular brandis not identified. Accordingly, the electronic device can determinecategories for items included in the shopping list so that those itemsmay be more easily associated with coupons for particular brands ofproducts. For example, an item on the shopping list may simply be listedas “bread”. The electronic device can determine a category into whichthe item “bread” is mapped. Similarly, coupons for particular brands ofproducts can also be mapped into categories so that generic listed itemsincluded in the shopping list may be more easily associated withpossible applicable coupons.

In other embodiments according to the invention, a system at a merchantlocation may wirelessly detect the presence of the electronic device.Once detected, the system can wirelessly access the shopping list and/orthe coupons stored in the electronic device whereupon the system maywirelessly transmit information about selected items to the electronicdevice. The information about the selected items can be selected basedon, for example, items on the shopping list, coupons stored in theelectronic device, information from a product provider, and/or apromotion by the merchant. Accordingly, the system may determine (forexample based on the shopping list and/or the scanned coupons stored inthe electronic device), which products the customer may be interested inpurchasing. In response, the system can then transmit information, suchas advertisements or additional coupons, to the electronic device toencourage the customer to make certain purchases.

In some embodiments according to the invention, information wirelesslytransmitted to the electronic device by the system may be maintainedpersistently on a display of the electronic device during the customer'svisit to the merchant location. Furthermore, the information may changeor be highlighted as the customer moves about the merchant location and,more particularly, may become more prominent when the customer is in theproximity of the advertised products.

In still other embodiments according to the invention, the customer canscan products when shopping whereupon the electronic device attempts toassociate the scanned product with stored coupons. In some embodimentsaccording to the invention, the electronic device may ask forconfirmation from the customer as to whether a particular product is tobe purchased when, for example, the electronic device determines that acoupon exists for a product other than the scanned product. For example,if a coupon for a particular brand of soup is stored in the electronicdevice, and a customer scans a different soup product, the electronicdevice may request that the customer confirm the purchase of the scannedproduct.

FIG. 1 is a flow diagram that schematically illustrates the processingof coupons by a customer according to some embodiments of the invention.FIG. 2 is a flowchart that also illustrates the processing of coupons bya customer during a visit to a merchant location. FIG. 3 is a schematicrepresentation of a merchant location coupled to a merchant systemaccording to some embodiments of the invention. As described hereinbelow in greater detail, FIGS. 1-3 are referenced jointly to describethe processing of coupons by customers according to embodiments of thepresent invention.

According to FIG. 1, a merchant distributes printed material includingcoupons 105, such as in a newspaper or other periodical including anadvertising supplement. A customer scans the coupons 105 using a stylus101 connected to an electronic device 100. It will be understood thatthe coupons 105 can be formatted according to standard U.P.C. couponcodes, UCC/EAN128 coupon extended codes, or other standard codes such asthose promulgated by the FMI/GMA Coupon Scanning Subcommittee of theJoint Coupon Committee.

The stylus 101 can be any device that is capable of scanning optical barcodes such as those commonly used in printed coupons. The stylus 101 ispassed over the coupons 105 to provide an electronic representation ofthe coupons 105 to the electronic device 100 (Block 205). The electronicdevice 100 stores the electronic representations of the coupons 105 in amemory therein. It will be understood that the stylus 101 and theelectronic device 100 may be separate devices (as shown in FIG. 4) ormay be integrated into a single device. As used herein the term “coupon”is sometimes used to refer to electronic representations of scannedcoupons that are stored in the electronic device 100.

It will be understood that the electronic device 100 can be a personaldigital assistant (i.e., PDA) or other handheld device that a customercould conveniently carry to a merchant location for use while shopping.Other types of devices include a cellular telephone; a PersonalCommunications System (PCS) terminal that may combine a cellulartelephone with data processing, facsimile and data communicationscapabilities; a conventional laptop; or a palmtop computer.

The customer provides a shopping list 110 including items to bepurchased during a visit to a merchant location (see block 210). Theshopping list 110 can include generically listed items (such as “bread”or “milk”) or particular brands of products to be purchased (such as“Brand A Soup”). Furthermore, the shopping list 110 can be entered intothe electronic device 100 by the customer manually or may be createdusing software that produces a hard copy output including U.P.C. codessimilar to those used to provide the coupons 105 corresponding to theitems to be purchased. Accordingly, the shopping list 110 may be scannedusing the stylus 101 in much the same way that the coupons 105 arescanned.

In some embodiments according to the invention, the electronic device100 associates items included in the shopping list with electronicrepresentations of the coupons 105 in the electronic device 100. Forexample, an item on the shopping list may specify a particular brand ofsoup for purchase which is associated with a coupon for the same brandof soup scanned by the customer. In still further embodiments accordingto the invention, the shopping list 110 may include items using ageneric description (such as “bread” or “milk”). Accordingly, theelectronic device 100 can determine a category for such genericallylisted items. Similarly, the electronic device 100 may determinecategories for scanned coupons 105 and can then associate the couponswith the generically listed items in the same category (Blocks 215-225).

The customer travels to a merchant location 115 whereupon the presenceof the electronic device 100 is detected by a merchant system (Block230). As shown in FIG. 3, the electronic device 100 is detected by amerchant system 140 upon arriving at the merchant location 115. It willbe understood that although the electronic device 100 is shown insidethe merchant location 115 in FIG. 3, the presence of the electronicdevice 100 may be detected outside the merchant location 115 butproximate thereto (such as in the parking lot).

Once the electronic device 100 is detected at the merchant location 115,the merchant system 140 can wirelessly access the shopping list and/orthe electronic representations of the coupons stored in the electronicdevice 100 (Block 235). The system 140 can thereby determine whichproducts the customer is interested in purchasing during the visit.

In some embodiments according to the invention, the electronic device100 notifies the customer that the merchant system 140 is attempting toaccess the shopping list and/or the electronic representations of thecoupons, whereupon the customer may be prompted whether to allow theaccess. In sonic embodiments according to the invention, the customercan enter a security code to allow access by the merchant system 140. Instill other embodiments according to the invention, the customer mayotherwise indicate that access is denied.

Furthermore, the merchant system 140 may wirelessly transmit informationabout selected items to the electronic device (Block 240). It will beunderstood that the information wirelessly transmitted to the electronicdevice 100 by the merchant system 140 can be selected based on the itemsincluded in the shopping list and/or the coupons stored therein. Forexample, the merchant system may examine the shopping list and determinewhat other products the customer may be interested in purchasing. Forexample, the merchant system 140 may access the shopping list andtransmit a new coupon for a product included on the shopping list or fora product that maps to a category included in the shopping list.

Alternatively, the merchant system 140 may transmit advertisinginformation to the electronic device 100 for display thereon. It will beunderstood that in some embodiments according to the invention, theinformation transmitted by the merchant system 140 to the electronicdevice 100 may be persistently displayed thereon while the customer isat the merchant location (Block 245).

Alternatively, the information provided by the merchant system 140 tothe electronic device 100 may be highlighted or otherwise emphasizedresponsive to the customer's location (i.e., the electronic device'slocation) at the customer location 115 (Block 250). In particular,referring to FIG. 3, the information transmitted by the merchant system140 may be emphasized as the electronic device 100 nears a location 305at the merchant location 115. For example, information 120 may “pop-up”on the display of the electronic device 105 as the customer approachesthe location 305. In still other embodiments according to the invention,the electronic device 100 may issue an audible alarm as the customerapproaches location 305. In some embodiments according to the invention,the electronic device 100 can issue the visual and/or the audibleindications described above.

Referring again to FIGS. 1 and 2, the customer scans a product 125 usingthe electronic device 100 to provide an electronic representation of theU.P.C. code located on the product 125 to the electronic device 100 forstorage therein (Block 255). The electronic device 100 then determineswhether any of the coupons stored in the electronic device 100 areapplicable to the scanned product 125 (Block 260).

If a coupon is applicable to the scanned product 125 (Block 265), thecoupon stored in the electronic device 100 is associated with thescanned product 1.115 (Block 280). If, however, no stored coupon isapplicable to the scanned product 125 (Block 265), the electronic device100 may determine whether any product in the merchant inventory isapplicable to any coupon stored in the electronic device 100 that is inthe same category as the scanned product 125 (Block 270). If there is aproduct in the merchant inventory that is applicable to a coupon storedin the electronic device 100, the electronic device 100 may prompt thecustomer to purchase the product that is applicable to the stored coupon(Block 272) and waits for another product to be scanned, If, however,there is no product in the merchant inventory that is applicable to acoupon in the same category in which the scanned product 125 resides(Block 270), the electronic device 100 may request confirmation that thescanned product 125 is to be purchased (Block 275).

The customer continues to scan products until the shopping list isfulfilled (Block 282) whereupon the customer or clerk at the merchantlocation 115 connects the electronic device 100 to an interface 130 thatis coupled to a check out system 135 (Block 285). The check out system135 accesses the electronic device 100 and transfers the couponsassociated with scanned products from the electronic device 100 (Block290). The check out system 135 verifies that the transferred coupons arevalid by, for example, communicating with the merchant system 140 whichmay include a database of valid coupons. Upon validation, the check outsystem 135 then removes (or otherwise invalidates) the couponsassociated with the scanned products stored in the electronic device 100(Block 295). The validated coupons transfer-red from the electronicdevice 100 to the check out system 135 can then be uploaded to amanufacturer system (not shown) for data processing and to providecredit to the merchant (Block 197).

Referring again to FIG. 3, when the customer scans a particular product,the merchant system 140 may provide information related to other items(such as items not included on the shopping list), that the customer maybe interested in purchasing during the visit. For example, the merchantsystem 140 may determine that a relationship exists between a scannedproduct and another product offered by the merchant (such as “cookies”and “milk”). Accordingly, when the customer scans “chocolate cookies,”the merchant system 140 may wirelessly transmit information related to“milk” (such as the location of milk at the merchant location 115).

It will be understood that the merchant system 140 may wirelesslyprovide information to the electronic device 100 based on, for example,the location of the customer at the merchant location 115. For example,the merchant system 140 may determine that the customer is presently atposition 310 at the merchant location 115 based on a product scanned bythe customer. The merchant system 140 may prompt the user withinformation related to products that are located near position 310.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram that illustrates electronic devices 100according to some embodiments of the invention. As shown in FIG. 4, aprocessor circuit 400 is coupled to each of the other subsystems shownand thereby coordinates the operations thereof. The processor circuit400 is coupled to a stylus interface circuit 410 that is configured toreceive the electronic representations of coupons scanned by the stylus.The processor circuit 400 is also coupled to a wireless interfacecircuit 405 that is configured to transmit/receive information to/fromthe merchant system 140, such as information for display, the shoppinglist stored in the electronic device, as well as the electronicrepresentations of the coupons stored in the electronic device 100. Thewireless interface circuit 405 can also be used to receive informationindicating a location of the electronic device 100 within the merchantlocation 115.

The wireless interface circuit 405 can be an IEEE 802.11 compliantinterface included in the communication device 100. In other embodimentsaccording to the invention, the wireless interface circuit 405 canprovide connectivity to an “ad hoc” network, such as a Bluetoothcompliant network. As used herein, an “ad hoc’ protocol network ortransmitter refers to one that is generally configured at the time ofuse based on the resources available. Such networks, typically, providea service discovery protocol to allow, for example, identification ofavailable resources. They may also negotiate various aspects ofoperations, such as peer relationships between resources, at the time ofuse of the resources. The Bluetooth™ interface is further described inan article authored by Jaap Haartsen entitled Bluetooth—The universalradio interface for ad hoc, wireless connectivity, Ericsson Review, No.3, 1998, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

The processor circuit 400 is also coupled to a check out interfacecircuit 415 that is configured to transmit/receive information to/fromthe check out system 135, such as coupons associated with the scannedproducts. The processor circuit 400 can be any commercially available orcustom microprocessor, microcontroller, digital signal processor or thelike.

The memory circuit 420 may include any memory devices containing thesoftware and data used to implement the functionality circuits ormodules used in accordance with embodiments of the present invention.The memory circuit 420 can include, but is not limited to, the followingtypes of devices: ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, SRAM, DRAM andmagnetic disk.

As further illustrated in FIG. 4, the memory circuit 420 may includeseveral categories of software: an operating system 425; applicationprograms 430 including the software to provide the operations of theelectronic device 100 described herein; and data 435. The data 435represents the static and dynamic data used by the application programs430, the operating system 425, and the device drivers 440 for thevarious interface circuits described herein, that may reside in thememory 420.

As will be appreciated by those of skill in the art, the operatingsystem 425 may be any operating system suitable for use with theelectronic device 100, such as OS/2, AIX or zOS from InternationalBusiness Machines Corporation, Armonk, N.Y., Windows 95, Windows98,Windows2000 or WindowsXP from Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Wash.,Unix or Linux. The device drivers 440 typically include softwareroutines accessed through the operating system 425 by the applicationprograms 430 to communicate with devices such as the check-out interfacecircuit 415 and the stylus interface circuit 410.

As described herein below in greater detail, in some embodiments . . .according to the invention, a shopping list including items for purchaseat a merchant location can be stored in an electronic device along withelectronic representations of coupons that are scanned by the electronicdevice. The electronic device can associate the electronicrepresentations of the coupons with items included in the shopping list.For example, the shopping list may specify a particular brand of productto he purchased at the merchant location, which can be associated withan electronic representation of a coupon for the purchase of thatproduct.

In still further embodiments according to the invention, an item on theshopping list may be named only generically so that a particular brandis not identified. Accordingly, the electronic device can determinecategories for items included in the shopping list so that those itemsmay be more easily associated with coupons for particular brands ofproducts. For example, an item on the shopping list may simply be listedas “bread”. The electronic device can determine a category into whichthe item “bread” is mapped. Similarly, coupons for particular brands ofproducts can also be mapped into categories so that generic listed itemsincluded in the shopping list may he more easily associated withpossible applicable coupons.

In other embodiments according to the invention, a system at a merchantlocation may wirelessly detect the presence of the electronic device.Once detected, the system can wirelessly access the shopping list and/orthe coupons stored in the electronic device whereupon the system maywirelessly transmit information about selected items to the electronicdevice_(—) The information about the selected items can be selectedbased on, for example, items on the shopping list, coupons stored in theelectronic device, information from a product provider, and/or apromotion by the merchant. Accordingly, the system may determine (forexample based on the shopping list and/or the scanned coupons stored inthe electronic device), which products the customer may be interested inpurchasing. In response, the system can then transmit information, suchas advertisements or additional coupons, to the electronic device toencourage the customer to make certain purchases.

In some embodiments according to the invention, information wirelesslytransmitted to the electronic device by the system may be maintainedpersistently on a display of the electronic device during the customer'svisit to the merchant location. Furthermore, the information may changeor be highlighted as the customer moves about the merchant location and,more particularly, may become more prominent when the customer is in theproximity of the advertised products.

In still other embodiments according to the invention, the customer canscan products when shopping whereupon the electronic device attempts toassociate the scanned product with stored coupons. In some embodimentsaccording to the invention, the electronic device may ask forconfirmation from the customer as to whether a particular product is tobe purchased when, for example, the electronic device determines that acoupon exists for a product other than the scanned product. For example,if a coupon for a particular brand of soup is stored in the electronicdevice, and a customer scans a different soup product, the electronicdevice may request that the customer confirm the purchase of the scannedproduct.

In the drawings and specification, there have been disclosed embodimentsof the invention arid, although specific terms are employed, they areused in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes oflimitation, the scope of the invention being set forth in the followingclaims.

What is claimed:
 1. A method comprising: selecting an item from a listof items stored on an electronic device, the selecting based on a matchbetween a coupon stored the electronic device and the list of items;displaying, on the electronic device, a representation of the selecteditem; altering the display, on the electronic device, of therepresentation of the selected item to indicate a relative positionbetween the selected item within a merchant location and the electronicdevice; and maintaining the altered display of the representation of theselected item as the electronic device moves within the merchantlocation.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determiningcategories for the items included in the list of items; determining ifthe coupon is associated with any of the categories; and associating thecoupon determined to be associated with a category.
 3. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the stored representation of the coupon in theelectronic device is wirelessly accessed upon wireless detection of theelectronic device being proximate to the merchant location.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising receiving, by the electronicdevice, information about the selected item.
 5. The method of claim 4,further comprising displaying the information on the electronic deviceprior to products being scanned into the electronic device at themerchant location.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein altering thedisplay comprises highlighting the display of the indication of theselected item.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving,by the electronic device, a code identifying a scanned product;determining that the coupon is applicable to the code; and requestingconfirmation of the scanned product responsive to determining that thecoupon is applicable to another product in the same category as thescanned product.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein requestingconfirmation of the scanned product comprises: displaying a message thatno coupon is applicable to the scanned product and requesting anindication to one of accept the scanned product or reject the scannedproduct.
 9. The method of claim 7, further comprising: transferring thecode to a merchant system; verifying authenticity of the couponapplicable to the code; adjusting a total price to be paid to themerchant based on the code; and invalidating the coupon applicable tothe code.
 10. A device comprising: a processor; and memory coupled tothe processor, the memory comprising executable instructions that whenexecuted by the processor cause the processor to effectuate operationscomprising: selecting an item from a list of items stored on anelectronic device, the selecting based on a match between a couponstored the electronic device and the list of items; displaying, on theelectronic device, a representation of the selected item; altering thedisplay, on the electronic device, of the representation of the selecteditem to indicate a relative position between the selected item within amerchant location and the electronic device; and maintaining the altereddisplay of the representation of the selected item as the electronicdevice moves within the merchant location.
 11. The device of claim 10,further comprising: determining categories for the items included in thelist of items; determining if the coupon is associated with any of thecategories; and associating the coupon determined to be associated witha category.
 12. The device of claim 10, wherein the storedrepresentation of the coupon in the device is wirelessly accessed uponwireless detection of the device being proximate to the merchantlocation.
 13. The device of claim 10, the operations further comprisingreceiving, by the device, information about the selected item.
 14. Thedevice of claim 13, the operations further comprising displaying theinformation on the device prior to products being scanned into thedevice at a merchant location.
 15. The device of claim 10, whereinaltering the display comprises highlighting the display of theindication of the selected item.
 16. The device of claim 10, theoperations further comprising: receiving, by the device, a codeidentifying a scanned product; determining whether the coupon isapplicable to the code; and requesting confirmation of the scannedproduct responsive to determining that the coupon is applicable toanother product in the same category as the scanned product.
 17. Thedevice of claim 16, wherein requesting confirmation of the scannedproduct comprises: displaying a message that no coupon is applicable tothe scanned product and requesting an indication to one of accept thescanned product or reject the scanned product.
 18. The device of claim16, the operations further comprising: transferring the code to amerchant system; verifying authenticity of the coupon applicable to thecode; adjusting a total price to be paid to the merchant based on thecode; and invalidating the coupon applicable to the code.
 19. Acomputer-readable storage medium that is not a propagating signal, thecomputer-readable storage medium comprising executable instructions thatwhen executed by a processor cause the processor to effectuate operationcomprising: selecting an item from a list of items stored on anelectronic device, the selecting based on a match between a couponstored the electronic device and the list of items; displaying, on theelectronic device, a representation of the selected item; altering thedisplay, on the electronic device, of the representation of the selecteditem to indicate a relative position between the selected item within amerchant location and the electronic device; and maintaining the altereddisplay of the representation of the selected item as the electronicdevice moves within the merchant location.
 20. The computer-readablestorage medium of claim 19, the operations further comprising:determining categories for the items included in the list of items;determining if the coupon is associated with any of the categories; andassociating the coupon determined to be associated with a category.